Page 11 of The Way to a Cowboy's Heart

She laughed. “Ah! Quite motivational, apparently.”

He laughed, too. “Apparently.”

“Well, I hope you brought your appetite,” she said. “As you can see, there’s no shortage of food tonight.”

He popped the prosciutto wrapped grana padano cheese with fig preserves in his mouth and rolled his eyes. “Ohhh, mm-mm,” he moaned. “That’s… that’s really good.”

“It’s the fig preserves,” she said. “They never fail to please.”

“No, it’s the whole thing, all together. And… never had fig jam before. I… think I’ll need to start. And no need to worry about my appetite. My sisters spent most of my life accusing me of bein’ a bottomless pit. Or having a hollow leg. One of the two. Mostly that’s still true.”

“That’s quite graphic. You don’t, do you? Have a hollow leg?”

“Only when there’s good food involved.”

“Well, you’re in the right place, I hope. You said sisters, plural. You have a big family?”

“There’s four of us kids. Two sisters, one older, one younger. And an older brother, too. He and my older sister are twins, in fact.”

“Twins? Oh, how lovely! I have a brother who’s quite stodgy and not much fun, and Muriel, of course, who is the sunshine of every gathering. She’s here from London for a few weeks.” She took another nervous gulp of wine.

“It’s a nice place to visit. New York City.”

Or to live.She’d gotten used to this city, though it had never felt as much like home for her as London did. But having left years ago, with the intention of creating her own life, London was now more of a memory than home. And all of the people in this room made this place real.

Liam stood near her window, taking in the room. It was unusually large for a New York City apartment and rent controlled, so she’d been lucky there. But even now, as the city skyline grew dark and the lights came up in windows across town, the view from here was quite something and part of the ambiance of these dinner parties.

She watched him watching the sky darken. “Were you really talking about me all day to Jess and Carolyn?”

A smile tipped his mouth. “Well, if you want to know the truth, I was kicking myself for not getting your name. Or your number.”

“And hereyouare.” She pulled her cell phone from her pocket. “Have your phone? I’ll call you, then you’ll have my number.”

“Really? Oh, yeah.” He pulled out his phone and she did exactly that. “Okay, then. Thank you.”

“Well, you are already vetted through Jess. So, I know you’re not a stalker or anything weird.”

“Your number is safe with me.”

For a moment, Emily forgot there were a half-dozen other guests in the room because the way he was looking at her made her feel as if she was the only one here. His look flustered and flattered her, but also reminded her that everyone had come to eat, and she needed to get back to the kitchen. He’d probably never call her and even if he did, he lived thousands of miles away.”

“All right. Don’t go anywhere,” she told him. “The food needs my attention for a few minutes, but I’ll be back. Please, enjoy yourself.”

“Oh, I’ll be right here,” he assured her.

Jess clapped him on the shoulder and directed him over to another couple as she left for the kitchen, her knees feeling a bit shaky for no good reason at all. It wasn’t as if she didn’t interact with attractive men all day long. Or even fend off flirts. But whatever he was doing, it didn’t feel the same. Not like normal flirtation. Nor was it the same for her. There was some connection she couldn’t understand going on between them. But if anything, it seemed doomed to a temporary status. A momentary interplay between two strangers who intersected. His world was light-years apart from hers. And soon, he’d be returning to it.

Think about the food, Emily. Just the food.

*

Liam was onlyhalf listening to the conversation around him. He knew that Jess wanted him to meet the others at the party, but his mind was on her. On Emily.

Emily Quinn.

The name suited her. She was so… so British and so different from the women he knew. And with all these friends of hers here, who were all so… urbane, he guessed the word was, so… on another level from anything he was, he couldn’t help but feel out of place here. Aside from the thing they were building at the ranch, he was just a simple cowboy who ranched cattle and had spent every day of his life in mucked-up boots with straw in his hair. And while there was definitely some chemistry happening between them, he suspected he was simply more of a novelty to her than anything else.

But he was all in for tasting the food she was cooking tonight—which already smelled amazing—and despite their lunch at the Boathouse today, he had worked up an appetite walking around this city.

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